Taken
by thementalist2
Summary: A serial killer wants revenge on the LVCL because they were responsible for his brother's death. Two years later, the man decides to get his revenge. The Crime Lab receives a video of Russell being tortured. How will they react? Can they rescue him and keep the rest of the team from becoming the killer's next victim? Rated M for violence in Chapters 5 & 14. Morganders and Snickers!


_Italics mean flashbacks, thoughts, or the perpetrator's point of view._

**Prologue- A dangerous return:**

**Chapter Rating- T (moderate torture)**

Samantha Williams walked outside her house to grab the package that was sitting on her front porch. She picked up the package, walked back inside, and pulled out a boxcutter. She opened the package and was immediately hit in the face with a cloud of dust. She thought the dust was harmless, but in a matter of seconds she lost her balance and fell unconscious on the floor. A hooded and masked man walked into the house, zip-tied her wrists, gagged her with duct tape, and placed her in the trunk of a blue Toyota. The man, wearing gloves, walked back to the house and closed the door behind him. He started the car and headed towards an old house on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

Samantha awoke to a headache. She discovered that her wrists and ankles were handcuffed to a bed. A man was standing in front of her, holding a steak knife in his hand.

"Who are you and where am I?" Samantha asked the masked man.

"My name doesn't matter to you. What you should be worried about is the fact that I'm going to take this steak knife and kill you with it. Then I'm going to call your husband and he's going to be grieving for a long time because he's going to find your body," the man said. He turned on the stereo and started blaring electronica music. The music would drown out her screams and cries for help. He stepped towards her, and without warning, jammed the knife into her shoulder.

Samantha let out a scream of pain and the man gagged her with duct tape. He took the knife and jammed it into her chest even harder, causing the young woman to scream even louder. But unfortunately, her screams were muffled by the tape. The man raised the knife one more time, stabbing her in the heart. As she began to exsanguinate, he took a crowbar and hit her head with it over and over again until she stopped moaning. She was dead within a minute.

The man pulled out a cell phone and dialed Samantha's husband's number.

"Hello?" her husband asked.

"Mr. Williams. Nice to hear your voice. You want to say hello to Samantha? Oh wait, she can't, because she's already dead. I hoped you kissed her goodbye because she will never hear your voice again. Her body will be in a cardboard box at 6534 Boulder Lane. Show up within the next half hour or someone else will become my next victim," a voice said before hanging up.

The husband grabbed his keys, and started the car. He reached the location within 15 minutes and once he arrived, he saw a large cardboard box. He became so scared that he picked up his phone and dialed the Las Vegas Crime Lab.

**Chapter 1- New victim, same M.O: **

**Chapter Rating- T (mature themes and stalking)**

CSI Greg Sanders and Crime Lab Nightshift Supervisor D.B. Russell had just finished grabbing their second cup of coffee when Homicide Detective Jim Brass walked in, car keys in hand.

"What's up, Jim? We got a new case?" D.B. asked.

"Yep. We think our friend The Unsub has returned. We've got another victim that matches his M.O," Brass said.

"Who?" Greg asked. "I'm completely drawing a blank on who this guy is."

"The Unsub is a serial killer who targets men and women of any age, starting from age 21 and ending at age 77. He has killed over 20 people in the past five years. He kidnaps his victims, takes them to an abandoned house, and tortures them for however long he wants. He usually stabs his victims in the chest and shoulders with a steak knife."

Greg did not to hear any more details about this serial killer. He wanted to find this guy before he killed again or kidnapped someone else.

Brass, D.B, and Greg arrived at the crime scene 10 minutes later.

"What have we got here?" D.B. asked Sara Sidle, another one of the CSIs. She was one of Greg's closest friends.

"A Hispanic female, probably age 25 or 26. She was found dead in this box. Time of death looks very recent, maybe half an hour to 45 minutes ago. Two stab wounds on her chest and one on her shoulder. Her ID says her name is Samantha Williams," Sara said.

"Any witnesses see someone put a box here?"

"No, unfortunately. The husband says he got a call about a half hour ago from an unknown person saying to come to this location to see his wife's body inside the box."

"Where's the husband?"

"Talking to Greg."

D.B. walked over to the CSI, who was interviewing the husband.

"Thank you sir," Greg said to the husband, who sat down on a bench and started crying.

"What did the husband say?" the Supervisor asked.

"He said his name is Ronald. He's known Samantha since college and they have a two-year-old daughter named Lisa. He said that everyone loved Samantha, that no one would want to harm her."

"Did he touch the box?"

"He didn't. He saw the box, freaked out, and called the Crime Lab."

_He sat in his dark car, about halfway down the street from the crime scene. He raised his Nikon camera and took several pictures. He was planning his next trap: get revenge on the Las Vegas Crime Lab. They had been responsible for the death of his brother two years ago. Or, more specifically, D.B. Russell had been responsible. Two years ago, the man's brother had been holding hostages inside a grocery store. The LVCL and SWAT teams bursted into the store. His brother, Jerry, was about to kill a woman, and D.B. had shot him in the shoulder to save the woman's life. Jerry let the young woman go. In a twist of fate, he quickly pulled out a gun from inside his jacket pocket and was about to shoot Brass in the head. The detective had no time to react at all that an insane crazy man with a gun was about to kill him. D.B. shot Jerry in the chest to save Brass, and Jerry was pronounced dead two minutes later. The man vowed to get revenge on the man who killed his brother._

"_Soon, Russell, soon. We will meet and you will pay for what you did to me," the man chuckled to himself. "I will make you suffer so much that you will be begging me to kill you. And then, I will watch your team fall apart, knowing that they will be watching one of their own slowly die. They won't be able to do anything to save you." _

_The man took a few more pictures, and then drove towards his house. He didn't want to be spotted by the Crime Lab, knowing that he was only a couple of days away from completing his final crime. After getting his revenge, he would disappear off the grid and escape to France. No one would find him there, because he would be taking his private jet to get there. _

**Chapter 2- Preparing:**

**Chapter Rating- K+/T (mild mature themes)**

Sara walked down to the morgue to hopefully get some new results on the victim.

"Hey Doc," she said.

"Hey Sara," Doc Robbins replied.

"Any news on our victim?"

"Mrs. Williams here was indeed killed by a steak knife. Based on the size and angle, this knife is the same knife that killed our other 20 victims."

"So what was the cause of death?"

"Exsanguination. The third stab pierced the aorta, killing her within a minute."

"That's an incredibly painful death to go through."

_He made sure that everything was ready for Russell's arrival tomorrow. He decided to get his revenge on the Crime Lab now instead of later, a day earlier. The table was wiped clean of blood and dust. The knives were carefully washed and dried. The hand-held taser was fully charged. The white cloth had just the right amount of chloroform on it. The man wanted to take his time with Russell before he died a painful death. The perpetrator wanted to make the Crime Lab pay for their mistakes. He couldn't wait to see the looks on the team's faces once they realized that they were too late to save their boss. He couldn't wait to see them grieve once they found their Supervisor's body, badly beaten and bloody. The man had borrowed his neighbors' 2013 black Mercedes instead of his own crappy 1993 blue Toyota. He had been meaning to have the Toyota fixed for a few months now, but he never found the time to take it to the mechanic. The neighbors were away on a two-month cruise to Cancun, and they wouldn't even know that their car was missing. The man fell asleep, dreaming of tomorrow night when he would finally have his revenge…_

**Chapter 3- Kidnapped for Revenge:**

**Chapter Rating- T (mature themes)**

Sara walked into work the next night feeling very tired. She just wanted to catch this serial killer and go home and relax for a weekend. She walked into the breakroom to receive the case details from Russell, but he wasn't in the room.

"Greg, have you seen Russell?" Sara asked. He was pouring himself a cup of coffee and eating a doughnut with his girlfriend, CSI Morgan Brody.

"No, I haven't. I mean, shift just started five minutes ago, so maybe he got stuck in traffic or is just running late," Greg said.

A half hour passed, and there was still no sign of Russell. Brass walked into the break room to find everyone but the Supervisor in the room.

"Where is Russell? He was supposed to be here a half hour ago," the homicide detective snapped.

"Don't know, Brass. We've tried calling him and there has been no response at all," Sara replied.

"I hope he's not in trouble. Greg, you and Sara go to his house, and see if he's there. The rest of us are going to wait for him here at the lab."

The two CSIs left the building and Brass suddenly got a call from one of the officers outside the Lab.

"Detective, we've got a situation out front," the cop said. "Our man out front has been shot twice. He's dead, unfortunately. And I found a car in the parking lot matching this license plate number."

He told Brass the number, and suddenly, the detective went pale.

"We've got a problem. Something's happened to Russell. Our man out front is dead, and Russell's car is in the parking lot, but he hasn't shown up yet," Brass said.

_He finally arrived at the LVCL. The moment was finally here; he could now get his revenge. He rolled down the driver's seat window, put a silencer on his handgun, and shot the man behind the ticket/identification check counter dead. The perpetrator slowly and stealthy parked his car a few cars away from Russell's. The man pulled on his mask, cocked his gun, turned on the taser, pulled out the cloth soaked in chloroform, and put on some gloves. He put the cloth in his pocket and opened the trunk door. Just as D.B. locked his car and started walking towards the Lab, the man came up behind him and struck him in the lower back with the taser. _

_The Supervisor immediately felt a sharp pain in his back that caused him to lose his balance. He suddenly began losing his vision and strength. Just before he slumped to the ground, a cloth was pressed onto his face. Unfortunately, he was too weak to fight off his attacker and the chloroform took effect within a matter of seconds._

_The man picked up D.B's unconscious body and set him in the trunk of the Mercedes. His wrists were tied behind his back, and his mouth was covered with duct tape. The man slammed the trunk door shut, put the key in the ignition, cranked up the volume on the stereo, and was out of the parking lot in less than a minute. He planned to take his precious cargo to a secondary house, call his team, and then drive to the final destination. The man was going to throw the cops and the CSIs off track, and trick them into thinking that the Supervisor was at the house. _

Brass and the team walked out to Russell's car and found his keys next to the door. Greg found some tracks near the car and took some pictures. Unfortunately, the unknown person was very good at not leaving much evidence behind, and there weren't any more clues for the CSIs to find. Disappointed and worried for their boss's safety, the team headed back to the lab. Brass had just sat down in a conference room chair when his cell phone rang. He smiled once he saw who was calling.

"D.B! Are you alright? We're trying to-" Brass began, but something else made him stop talking. The voice on the other end of the line chilled him to his core.

"Yes? Captain Brass, I assume?" someone else said.

**Chapter 4- Phone Call:**

**Chapter Rating- K+ (mild violence)**

_The man slowed the Mercedes down in front of a two story house. He took the keys out of the ignition, got out of the car, and unlocked the trunk. Russell had just begun to regain consciousness. _

_"Good, you're finally awake. I need you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed so I can torture you for longer," the man said. He roughly grabbed the Supervisor's arm and pulled him out of the trunk. He was lead into the house. The perpetrator tied Russell to a chair, tore off the duct tape, and ripped off a new strip, gagging him again. _

_"The tape won't be on very long; I'm just not ready for them to hear you yet," the man said. He pulled out a cell phone, and D.B. realized that the phone was his. He silently prayed that his team would track the call. The perpetrator opened up the contacts list and scrolled down until he came to Brass's name. He pressed the necessary buttons, held the phone up to his ear, and waited for someone to pick up._

_"D.B! Are you alright? We're trying to-" a voice began. _

"_I'm sorry, but Russell can't make it to the phone right now. I'll tell him that you called. You're Captain Brass, I assume?" the man said._

Brass became very angry once he heard the other voice.

"Who is this? Why do you have Russell's cell phone?"

"You're hardly in any position to ask me any questions, Detective. I'm the one who gets to ask the questions or make the demands," the voice snapped.

"What do you want?"

"Revenge. Do you remember the shooting at the grocery store two years ago?"

"Yes. Your point is...?"

"You, Russell, and the LVPD were responsible for the death of my brother Jerry. Or, more specifically, D.B. is responsible."

"Is he alive? Let me speak to him to make sure he's alright."

The Crime Lab heard the man pulling the phone away from his ear and giving it to someone else. A loud rip! was heard.

"What was that?" Brass asked. He hoped that whatever noise he just heard wasn't some sort of torture device.

"Just duct tape being ripped off, nothing to worry about yet," the man sneered.

A familiar voice came over the phone soon after.

"Jim?"

"D.B! Are you alright? Has he hurt you at all?" the detective asked.

"I'm fine right now, and no, has hasn't hurt me at all yet. Listen to me, Arnold is crazy. He's going to-" the Supervisor said, but was interrupted by the sound of flesh on flesh.

"D.B!" Brass knew that the man had probably hit the Supervisor.

"I'm sorry, but Russell can't speak with you anymore. He must be punished for that action, saying my name. I want you all to hear a sample of what will happen to him," the man said.

He picked up the taser and shocked Russell in the chest with it, right above his heart.

The team heard a scream of pain come from their friend.

"You little creep- what did you just do to him?!" Brass snapped.

"I just shocked him with a taser. If you thought that was bad, then you are very wrong."

"Is there a deal we can make? Something we can give you in exchange for him?"

"Nope, I don't need anything else, nor do I want anything else. I have exactly what I want here beside me right now. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few things to take care of. I will be contacting you again."

A click was heard, signaling that the call had been disconnected.

"That creep isn't going to be seeing the inside of a prison cell for very long because once we find him, I'm going to break his neck," Brass said.

"Not if I find him first. I will kick him so hard that he will be singing soprano for a week and then I'll break his neck," Sara said.

"That's very funny, Sara, but Russell's life could be hanging by a thread this very moment. We need to find that creep and get him in jail before he kills him," Brass said.

_Arnold disconnected the call, and set the cell phone and Russell's badge on the coffee table. The perpetrator knew he had 15 to 20 minutes before the LVCL and LVPD swarmed the house. He walked into another room and came back with a burner phone and a syringe. Russell prayed that his abductor wouldn't get him addicted to drugs. If he did become addicted, then he would probably face suspension for at least a month._

_"It's a mild sedative, Russell. I'm not going to get you addicted. It's just something to help you sleep so you are wide awake once we reach our final destination," Arnold said, putting on gloves. He removed the protective cover from the syringe and released the sedative. _

_"You will be fast asleep in no time. I just have to put some money and water bottles in the car and we should be good to go."_

_Russell was unconscious within two minutes and soon after, Arnold came back in with a pair of scissors. _

_"Wow, the sedative worked pretty quickly," he said to himself as he cut the zip-ties and rope. Arnold picked up Russell's motionless body and put him in the trunk of the Mercedes once again. He tied his wrists with new zip-ties and started the car. He made sure the radio was on the electronica music station, and was driving down the street within a minute. He looked at his watch and realized that the cops would be at the house in less than 15 minutes. He drove at an even faster speed, and headed towards the freeway. Traffic was not heavy on this Thursday evening. With a sigh, he started humming the song playing on the radio and continued driving towards the Hoover Dam. _

**Chapter 5- Torture:**

**Chapter Rating- M (severe torture)**

Brass and the LVPD arrived at the house where Arnold had called from. Lab tech David Hodges had been able to trace the call and now Brass was preparing to break the creep's neck.

"Arnold Rodriguez, LVPD! Open up or we will kick this door down!" Brass shouted. A minute later, no one was coming to answer the door, so the Homicide detective kicked it open.

"LVPD!" several officers shouted.

Brass pointed his gun in front of him and headed into the living room.

"Clear!" the officers shouted.

The detective saw a shiny object on the coffee table and a cell phone. He shouted for Sara to collect DNA and prints.

After five minutes, Sara came up to Brass with a worried and disappointed look on her face.

"Find anything, Sara?" Brass asked.

"Yes and no. The phone and badge are indeed Russell's. His prints were on both items. But the bad news is that there are no other prints or DNA. So, unfortunately, we can't identify our perpetrator," she said.

"This guy is good, and we need to find him fast."

_Arnold had pulled up to his final destination- a one story house with a spectacular view of Hoover Dam. He pulled into the driveway, turned off the car and walked over to the the trunk. Unlocking and opening it, he lifted Russell out. The Supervisor was just starting to regain consciousness and his vision was still very blurry._

_Arnold took Russell into a spare room that had an aluminum surgical table, a crowbar, and a large assortment of knives and tools. He tied Russell to the table and picked up one of the steak knives. _

_D.B. regained consciousness and tried to figure out where he was. He discovered that his wrists and ankles were tied to table posts, and a man was standing in front of him, smiling and staring at a steak knife. _

_"Where...where am I?" Russell asked. _

_"Does it matter? No, it doesn't. What you should be worrying about is the fact that I will be using this knife," Arnold said._

_Without any warning, he picked up the knife and jammed it into Russell's shoulder. _

_The Supervisor screamed in pain and saw that Arnold was raising the knife again. This time, he made a cut along Russell's arm, not deep enough to injure anything, but leaving a trail of red behind it. _

_Arnold set the knife down on the table and picked up the taser. He shocked Russell on the abdomen over and over, and then picked up the crowbar. Russell continued screaming in pain. He screamed even louder when Arnold brought the metal bar down on his leg, breaking it. Russell passed out from the pain and Arnold realized that it wouldn't be any fun to torture someone who wasn't even awake to feel the pain. Arnold left the room and locked the door behind him. _

**Chapter 6- You again: **

**Chapter Rating- K+/T (mild-moderate torture)**

Russell awoke the next morning with a blinding pain in his leg. Arnold hadn't bothered to fix it up yet, and the Supervisor was starting to get hungry, since he hadn't eaten anything since yesterday's lasagna dinner.

Arnold walked in carrying a bowl of soup, a small salad, and a glass of water.

"Not so fast! I have to take a look at your leg. I need to make sure it's not going to cause you to cut your femoral artery and exsanguinate internally. I worked as a doctor for six years, so I know how to apply a cast properly," Arnold said.

He concluded that the crowbar had broken Russell's leg, so the perpetrator wrapped it up in a cast.

"Now you get to eat." Pulling out a gun, he used one hand to keep it pointed at Russell, and the other was used to cut the zip-ties.

Russell ate all the food, feeling much better, but was still in a lot of pain.

"It's nice that you ate it all because starving is an ugly way to die. My grandmother died of starvation in 1917 after the deadly flu epidemic. There wasn't anything left but medicine and bottled water. She was found dead in her home a month later. The coroner said that she died of malnutrition. Such a wonderful woman," Arnold said. He picked up the taser and shocked Russell in the chest, almost causing him to throw up.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" Russell snapped.

Arnold grabbed his throat and started compressing it. Russell began gasping for air. Arnold released his grab.

"That is what you get for talking back to your abductor. You don't get to talk back to me, otherwise I will press on your throat even more. You have to do as I say," Arnold sneered.

"I am the Crime Lab Supervisor. I demand that you release me."

"Nice try, Russell, but unfortunately you don't belong to the Lab anymore. You are no longer a free person, not even a boss. You belong to me now, and it's time you learned that I do the demanding and you do the obeying. You will become my slave and you may to please me if I ask you to. If you try to disobey or escape, just know that no one will be coming to your rescue. I have complete control over you, and I can do anything I want to you. Anything I want." He re-tied Russell's wrists to the posts and disappeared into another room. He returned a few minutes later with a roll of duct tape, the crowbar, another steak knife, and a cell phone.

_Oh, please no, not the crowbar again! _D.B. thought once he saw that awful piece of metal lying on the table.

Arnold took the bar and brought it down as hard as he could on the cast. The cast didn't break, but Russell let out a howl of pain.

"Today is a new day of torture and pain for you. But first, we're going to call your team and see how they react to you being beaten over the phone." Unbeknownst to Russell, Arnold had a small video camera hidden in the corner of the room to watch his prisoner's every move. The unsub had secretly filmed yesterday's torture scene and put the video on a disc. He dropped it off at the post office the this morning. He hoped that it would arrive at the Lab that evening.

That evening, once everyone was sitting in the conference room, Sara walked outside to her car to grab a few dollars. She and Morgan were going to Starbucks after shift. The CSI was about to enter the building and spotted a small cardboard box by the front door. She put on a pair of gloves and carried the box into the conference room. Brass paled a little bit once he realized who the package was about. He took the box down to Hodges to have it checked for chemicals and bombs.

"The package is safe, Brass," Hodges said after a few minutes. The homicide detective took a knife and cut through the tape seal. He reached inside and pulled out a CD. He loaded it into a laptop. He also pulled out a photo of Russell, tied up and barely conscious.

Archie Johnson, the technology guy, made sure the video didn't contain any hidden worms or viruses. He determined that the CD was free of any threats to the computer.

After a few seconds, someone started talking.

"Hello Las Vegas Crime Lab. You should have noticed that Russell did not show up for shift last night. Unfortunately, he won't be coming back for a while because he's a bit tied up and in a lot of pain right now."

The camera shifted to reveal Russell, still barely conscious and tied to metal posts on a table.

The team gasped in horror, shocked at how weak their Supervisor looked. They saw the unsub pick a steak knife off the table and twirl it around a bit.

"Does it matter? No it doesn't," Arnold said.

_Please no, please tell me that he will not touch Russell with that knife, _Sara thought as she watched the unsub raise the object.

But she was wrong.

The only sound she heard was her Supervisor's scream as the knife was jammed into his shoulder. Everyone in the room fell dead silent after seeing the weapon being raised into the air. But the second time, the perpetrator only cut Russell's arm, leaving behind a trail of red.

The team gasped once they saw Arnold pick up the taser and shock his prisoner over and over again. Brass became enraged once he saw Arnold pick up the crowbar. The homicide detective looked like he wanted to throw the computer at the wall and break it once he heard Russell scream.

"This is what you get for killing my brother. Russell was responsible, but some of you were there with him at the time. Now, you can feel the pain that I went through for two years," Arnold said. "I will in touch."

The tape stopped there. Brass's hands clenched into fists. He slammed his fist onto the table.

"Find me that creep so I can kill him," he snapped. Russell was one of his closest friends and the detective didn't want him to die. The phone rang, causing everyone to go silent. Brass mouthed to Hodges to trace the call. The lab tech immediately ran into his lab to complete the task.

Brass answered the call and put the phone on speaker so that everyone in the room could hear the man's voice.

"What do you want this time?" the detective snapped.

Before Brass could get another word out of his mouth, the sound of electricity filled the air. Someone screamed in pain and the same person started gasping for air.

"What are you doing to him?" Brass demanded.

"That was all your fault, Captain Brass. You do not speak that tone of voice with me. I am the one who makes the demands. Especially since the Crime Lab doesn't have their boss to help them through this situation. So, as punishment for talking disrespectful to me, I shocked Russell with the taser and cut off his air a bit," Arnold said.

"What do you want this time?" Brass asked in a calmer tone.

"That's much better. I appreciate you changing your tone of voice. By the way, I just know that you're tracing this call, but it will be a dead end. It's a burner phone. Do you really think that I would be an idiot and have a traceable phone with me? Of course not, since things are about to get worse."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to give you one chance to save your boss. I want 1 million dollars in the next 8 hours or you will never see him again. We will keep in touch, but every phone call, he will be getting worse."

"We will bring the money in 8 hours," Brass said.

"Good. But until then, Russell is still mine. I will call in 8 hours to tell you where to bring the money."

The phone went dead, and Brass became even angrier. He was going to get that million dollars and save Russell. And then, the detective would break the man's neck.

**Chapter 7- Not good at all:**

**Chapter Rating- K+ (mild mature themes)**

Russell was exhausted. The pain was becoming too much for him and he needed medicine. His shoulder was still sore from the stab wound. His abdomen was burned a bit from the taser, and his leg hurt like hundreds of wasps were stinging it.

Arnold set the phone down on the table. He turned to face his hostage.

"Tonight, there is going to be an auction. And the people there are buying hostages. You would probably earn me some money, considering that you're one of the most important people to the city of Las Vegas. Not to mention the fact that you're the LVCL Supervisor! These people are even meaner than your average criminal. Once the Lab pays me money, you will already be gone and sold to someone else. No one will find you once you leave here."

Russell silently prayed that this man would not take him away from this home.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Arnold said. "What? It's starting two hours early? Ok, I'll be there soon. Yes, you idiot, of course I'm bringing him. That's the only reason I'm going to this thing. Ok, see you soon." He put the phone on the table and pulled out a pair of pliers.

_Oh no, I've seen enough tools for today, _Russell thought. _ What is he going to do with those?_

_"Relax, Russell, I'm just cutting your zip-ties off. The auction starts two hours earlier than I thought, so we are going going to head there now."_

_Arnold cut the zip-ties, pulled out another pair, and re-tied Russell's wrists. He was forced out out of the house and into the black Mercedes. This time, he had to sit in the passenger seat. Arnold put the key in the ignition and started driving towards a hotel near The Strip._

**Chapter 8- The Auction:**

**Chapter Rating- T (moderate mature themes, mild-moderate torture scenes, and mild adult themes)**

Sara paced around the conference room nervously. She was worried about Russell being in the hands of a serial killer. He had never been in a situation like this before. She started crying, and her friend Nick Stokes came over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"Why are you crying?" he asked, pulling her closer to him.

"It's Russell. I'm really worried about him. I'm scared that he won't make it out alive. But if he does, then will he be emotionally traumatized?"

"It's ok, Sara. We're going to find him and the guy who did this will be in prison for no less than a life sentence."

But she was caught off guard once she realized that Nick was kissing her. She hadn't dated since her divorce with Grissom, and that had left her very depressed. Somehow, Nick kissing her comforted her.

"Wow. I, um, was not expecting that. But it was great," she replied. And she kissed him back.

"Sara Sidle, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.

"Yes, I would love to!"

_Arnold arrived at the hotel. He parked his car, cut Russell's zip-ties, and threatened to shoot him if he tried to run, since there was no one to help him escape. _

_Russell walked through double doors into the hallway of the first floor. There was a sign on the wall that said 'Auction.' Arnold walked down the hall and into a private room where the auction was being held. _

_An older man walked over to Arnold and shook hands with him. _

"_Arnold, how are you doing?"_

_"Good, thank you."_

_"So I hear the your have the LVCL Night Shift Supervisor?"_

_"Of course I do, who wouldn't want him? He could probably easily earn me 20 grand."_

_The older man's phone buzzed. He looked at it for a few seconds. _

_"The auction is going to start now. We can gladly start with you if you want," he said. _

_"That would be great! The Crime Lab is going to be paying me a million dollars in the next 7 hours, because they think that they will be getting Russell back, but by that time, he will be gone and the team will never find him."_

A few minutes later, about 2000 people walked into the room and once they saw Russell, they started searching in their wallets for money.

"Who wants to buy him? Crime Lab Night shift Supervisor, starting at $10,000," the man said.

"15,000!" someone shouted.

"18,000!" another man said.

"20,000," a third person said. He had a Spanish accent.

No one else shouted out any more prices, so the man leading the auction said "Sold!"

The Spanish accent man walked up to the auction owner and pulled out $20,000 in cash. The owner handed the money to Arnold, who had a large suitcase in hand.

"He's yours," Arnold said to the Spanish accent man. "Do whatever you want to him. I'm going off the grid and escaping to France once the Crime Lab hands over a million dollars in the next 7 hours."

Spanish accent man told Russell to come with him. He obeyed, but was forced to lay tied up in the trunk.

An hour later, Russell was on a bed, tied to posts with rope. The man took off his belt and hit him with the buckle wherever he wanted until he was seconds from passing out. Russell could only close his eyes to protect them from the stinging pain of being hit with a belt buckle.

"Had enough yet? Well, that was only the beginning," the man said. He dumped cold water on him, pulled out a taser, and shocked him with it until he passed out from the pain. Russell wasn't sure how much more electricity his heart could take before the darkness took him away forever.

The man's cell phone rang.

"Hello? What? You're not going to France? Why?" he asked. "Oh, you want a second hostage as well? Who are you going to take? Yes, he's perfect! That can be arranged. I'm sure Russell will want to see Brass. Those two are best friends and now the Crime Lab is going to be even more broken once they find out that another important person will be taken away from them." He hung up the phone and chuckled to himself. With the homicide detective in his hands, he would blackmail the Lab for even more money.

**Chapter 9- Ransom gone wrong:**

**Chapter Rating- K+ (mild violence)**

Brass stared at his watch again. The 8 hours were up, and there still hadn't been a call from the creep telling them where to drop off the money.

As if on cue, the phone rang. Brass put the phone on speaker.

"What are you calling about this time?" he said, trying hard to keep his temper down. 

"The money drop-off location. 5540 Boulder Lane. You have 20 minutes to be there. You come alone, no cops and no backup." The voice hung up immediately.

"Did our friend call yet?" Greg asked.

"Yes, he did. I have to go alone. No cops and no backup. That's final, I will be taking my car. If I don't come back within an hour, track my phone." Brass said, grabbing his car keys, badge, and gun. He walked out to the parking lot, threw the money in the trunk, unlocked the car, and put the key in the ignition. He was out of the lot in less than a minute.

Traffic was not heavy, and the detective arrived at the location within 10 minutes. Grabbing the bag, he walked over to the location, an abandoned warehouse. A man came out of the warehouse.

_Arnold was hiding in the bushes, waiting to make his move. Brass just had to hand the bag over to the man, and he would knock the detective unconscious. _

"I got your money. We only want Russell back. That's it, I swear. There are no traps or tracers and it is a million dollars. It's not counterfeit," Brass said.

"That's very nice, Detective, but unfortunately that will not be enough money for me." He raised his hand in the air, signaling for Arnold to make his move.

"I got you what you wanted, are you trying to blackmail me?" Brass threatened.

"Too bad that you won't be able to call your team and ask them for more because you'll be joining Russell."

"What are-" Brass didn't get to finish his sentence because someone came up behind him and hit him with a hard object that knocked him out cold.

"Good work, Arnold, get him secured before he wakes up. We need him alive if we're going to demand more money," Spanish accent man said.

Arnold tied Brass's wrists behind him with rope and covered his mouth with duct tape. He found his cell phone and removed the GPS tracker from it. Lastly, he took Brass's gun and set it on the ground next to the tracker, being careful not to leave any prints or DNA on it.

"Ronald, I secured him and removed his cell GPS tracker and gun."

"Good, did you remember to not leave any prints or DNA?"

"Of course, you idiot. Why would I be that stupid?"

Both men carried Brass's unconscious body to a dark blue Nissan, and set him in the trunk. After locking the door, Ronald put the key in the ignition and started the car while Arnold turned on the rap music station. They were heading towards the freeway, towards Arnold's house. There wasn't much traffic, so they arrived at their destination within a half hour. The two men chuckled to themselves as they unlocked the trunk and saw that Brass was regaining consciousness. They carried him into the house and into a bedroom. Russell, tied to the bed, saw the two men smiling as they walked in the room.

"We got you a friend. I think you'll know who it is right away. Now, the Crime Lab is going to be suffering more because we will be blackmailing them again and demanding more money for both of your returns," Arnold said.

Russell paled once he saw who the other hostage was. And he felt like his world had just stopped.

Because the man tied up, gagged, and barely conscious was none other than Homicide Detective Jim Brass.

**Chapter 10- From bad to worse:**

**Chapter Rating- T (mild-moderate adult themes, mild mature scenes and situations)**

Brass awoke in an unfamiliar room. His head hurt a lot from whatever object had hit him. He discovered that he was tied to a chair and his hands were handcuffed behind his back. He saw Russell tied to the metal posts and tried to move his chair closer to his friend. But, he didn't get very far before someone put his hands on his throat. The detective began to gasp for air.

"Don't even think about going over to him. You try to move this chair again and I'll squeeze your throat even harder," Arnold snapped. "We are going to wait an hour and call your team. I want them to find the note I left behind. I want to see them cry and get angry."

Someone's cell phone rang. Brass recognized the ringtone. It was very specific, and he only had a special ringtone for his daughter.

"Looks like someone wants to talk to you. Who is Ellie?"

"My daughter," Brass said.

"Fine. You can say goodbye to her. Try anything funny, and I strangle your friend."

"Ellie?" Brass said once the phone was put to his ear.

"Dad? Are you ok? Sara keeps calling me," his daughter replied.

"I'm fine, Ellie."

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm taking my own life. This is my goodbye call. I lost my friends, they were like sisters to me, so I'm going to join them."

"Ellie, please don't! I love you, you have a boyfriend that will be very sad in a few minutes."

"I'm sorry, Dad, but it's my final decision. I love you."

Ellie disconnected the call.

"No! Ellie, how could you do this to me?"

Brass turned to face his kidnapper.

"Please help her. I will do anything, just please get my daughter to a hospital!"

"Fine. Ronald, call 911 and tell them that a young woman is going to commit suicide."

Ronald dialed 911 and told them the situation.

A half hour later, he got a call from the hospital, saying that Ellie would be ok. She had taken a near-fatal dosage of acetaminophen, but would be recovering in the hospital for two weeks.

"Good news, Mr. Brass. Your daughter will live. She's in the hospital recovering for two weeks. Now, I assume that the team has noticed that you're missing by now, so we're going to give them a call in a few minutes."

"Wait a minute, I know who you are! You're Ronald Williams, Samantha's husband!"

"Yes, that's me. But why do you care?"

"Because once the team finds you, you're going to be in a prison cell for the rest of your life. But actually, once I free myself, I'm going to kill you. I will break your neck."

"Nice try, detective, but that's not going to happen."

An hour later, at the Crime Lab, Nick was starting to wonder where Brass was. He hoped that the detective wasn't in trouble. Deciding that he had waited long enough for Brass's return, he started to walk out of the Lab. He didn't get very far because he heard someone call his name. He turned around and saw Sara walking towards him.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To find Brass. He hasn't returned yet, so I'm going to find him."

"Not without backup. I'm going with you. I'm not letting my boyfriend go out there alone while a serial killer is on the loose."

"Fine, but take your gun. Just in case."

She put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him in for a kiss.

"I love you. That was just to say be safe."

He put his hands on her waist and pulled her close to him. He kissed her back, and started to remove her jacket. He slid his hands under her shirt and his fingers traced the outline of her spine.

"Wait, we can't do that now! Not in the Lab with a bunch of people around. We could get fired for this and remember, we are going to find Brass. Once we find him, then we can go to your house or my house and continue our little thing in the bedroom."

He removed his hands from under her shirt and pulled his keys out of his pocket. Within 10 minutes, the couple were already almost at the warehouse.

A few minutes later, Nick slowed the truck down in front of their destination. Both CSIs put on gloves and Sara cocked her gun.

"Brass?" they both called. "Brass? Hello? Are you here?" But there was no answer.

Nick spotted a gun on the ground, lying on top of a piece of paper and next to a small computer chip.

"Hey, Sara, I found something. I found a gun and a computer chip," he said, picking up the paper.

"Nick, that's a GPS tracker, not a computer chip. And that gun belongs to Brass, I have seen it enough to know it's his."

But the CSI started reading the note, and he suddenly became quiet. What he read chilled him to his core, and would haunt him forever.

"BRASS WILL NOT BE NEEDING THIS ANYMORE. HE IS MINE, AND NOW, HE WILL BE SAFE AND SOUND NEXT TO RUSSELL. DON'T TRY AND FIND US BECAUSE IF AND WHEN YOU DO, THE ONLY THING YOU WILL FIND ARE TWO BODIES."

"This case had gone from bad to worse, Sara."

"Why do you say that?"

"Brass has been taken by the same guy who took Russell."

Sara started crying because now another close friend of hers was gone. Now, Nick was in charge of the Lab until Russell or Brass were found. If Brass was found, then he would take over the Lab until Russell returned.

The two CSIs called the Lab, and told them that Brass had been taken. However, Hodges had said that someone had called on the phone a few minutes ago, looking for him.

Nick took Sara's hand in his own. He told her the situation.

"Oh, no, that's terrible. What if it's our guy?" she asked.

"That's what I'm thinking. We need to go back to the Lab and figure out if it is him or not."

They walked back to the truck. Nick unlocked it, and in less than a minute, they were already speeding towards the Lab.

20 minutes later, Nick was sitting in the conference room, phone in hand. He was prepared for the worst.

The phone rang, startling Morgan a bit. She took Greg's hand and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yes?" Nick asked politely.

"Mr. Stokes. How are you? Are you worried about Brass and Russell at all? They're a bit scared at the moment, since Brass never got to hand over the money," a voice said.

"What do you want? Are you trying to blackmail us? Because if you are, we will not pay."

"I think Russell or Brass should be able to answer your questions."

Nick heard the phone being moved to someone's ear. "Try anything funny, and we strangle your friend."

_Oh no, there's two perpetrators! _he thought.

"Stokes?"

"Brass? What has he done to you? Are you and Russell ok? I figured out that there are two perpetrators."

"Yea, and the one guy is someone that we know. He has a Spanish accent."

But suddenly, the phone was ripped away from his ear. Nick shouted for everyone to get in the room. Just as everyone walked in, they heard the sound of someone choking and gasping for air.

"Stop! You'll kill him!" the team heard Brass shout.

"I told you not to do anything funny! You just about gave us away!" someone else snapped.

"Strangle me instead, you idiot! Just kill me already!"

"Fine! He gets to live another day. But if you do that again, he will never see daylight again."

Russell started coughing, trying to regain the air that he lost.

"You remember what we talked about, right?"

"What did we talk about?" Brass asked nonchalantly.

"About the things you're going to say to your team."

"Yes I remember."

"Then tell them. If you try to say anything about where you are, I will personally strangle Russell."

The team heard a piece of paper being unfolded.

"You can only have one of us back. You must make a decision or it will be made for you. You have 8 hours," Brass said.

The line went dead.

"I hate you, man with a Spanish accent! I hate you, you creep! I am going to kill you once I find you!" Nick shouted at his phone. He swore, and slammed his fist onto the table.

"What happened? Did the idiot that we are going to kill call?" Greg asked.

"Yes, and I will a bullet in their brains once I find them," Nick said. "They've got Brass, and we have to make a decision."

"What do you mean we have to make a decision?"

"Brass was reading off something. He said that we have to decide who we want back."

Sara was shocked. "Don't tell me that you're only getting one person back!"

"Unfortunately, yes. We have to decide if we want Russell or Brass back. We have 8 hours to decide, or the decision will be made for us."

"Also, you mentioned something a few minutes ago about putting a bullet in their brains. What did you mean?"

"The case has officially gotten worse because we not just looking for The Unsub. We're also looking for his partner!"

"Oh, that's just great," Greg snapped. "We're looking for TWO Unsubs?"

"Looks like it. And I got some shocking news from Henry a few minutes ago. He ran DNA testing on the box that Samantha Williams's body was found in. He found her husband's fingerprints on the lid."

"Which means that he lied to us. He said that he saw the box and called us. I think he touched it, knowing his wife's body would be inside, and he pretended as though he knew nothing about her death. I think he was involved in her murder."

"Hodges!" Nick shouted. "Can you run this phone call and compare the Spanish accent man's voice against a recording of Ronald Williams?"

"Sure," the lab tech responded. He took Nick's phone with him to complete the task.

A few minutes later, Hodges came back with a smile on his face.

"I've got good news. I ran the voice recording against a copy of a home video he posted online about three weeks ago. The voices match. Ronald was talking to us on the phone. And Brass was right. Ronald does have a Spanish accent. He was born in Madrid, Spain. Grew up there until his mother died when he was 19. His dad left the family when he was 7. So, Ronald immigrated to the U.S soon after. His address is 345 Hoover Dam Road."

"Thanks, Hodges! Sara, get a warrant to search Ronald Williams's house. I think we just caught the partner."

Sara grabbed her phone and requested a warrant. She came back a few minutes later, saying she got the warrant.

"Good job, Sara. Now let's go and catch the creep."

**Chapter 11- Rescued:**

**Chapter Rating- K+ (mild violence)**

Nick, Sara, Greg, and LVPD and SWAT officers headed out to the parking lot. There were three vans waiting for them.

"I can't wait to see the look on the creep's face once we show up at his house, saying we have a search warrant," Nick said, grinning.

"Me too," Sara said.

Everyone reached the location within 20 minutes. Nick and Sara cocked their guns and the LVPD officers were prepared to kick down the front door.

"Arnold Rodriguez and Ronald Williams, LVPD! Open the door or we will kick it down!" Nick shouted.

Arnold answered the door and tried to run, but Sara kept her gun trained on him.

"Don't move, Arnold!" she threatened. "Or I will put a bullet in your brain."

"We have a warrant to search your house," Nick snapped, giving the warrant to Arnold.

Greg walked into the house and found a locked door.

"Arnold, why do you have a locked door if you're at home?" the CSI asked.

"Fine, I give up. They're both in there, but you're too late. Ronald had already begun to torture them to death," Arnold said.

Nick walked over to the door and kicked it open, his gun pointed straight ahead. He saw Brass tied and gagged to a chair and Ronald was preparing to use a steak knife on Russell, who was tied to the bedposts.

"Ronald Williams, PUT THE WEAPON DOWN!" Nick said.

"I don't think so, Mr. CSI," Ronald said. He pointed his knife at Russell's throat, drawing a little blood. "Put the guns down, or I slit his throat."

"We will put a bullet in your brain before you can do that. If you put down the knife, we can help you. PUT THE WEAPON DOWN!"

Ronald reluctantly set the knife down on the table. Greg handcuffed him and brought him out to the living room, where Arnold was being arrested.

"Arnold Rodriguez and Ronald Williams, you are under arrest for the murder of Samantha Williams and 20 other victims, along with kidnapping a CSI and LVPD Homicide Detective. You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law," Sara said, leading the two perpetrators to a police car.

Nick pulled out his pocketknife and cut the ropes that were holding Russell's wrists to the posts.

"Russell, you ok?"

However, the Supervisor started using sign language, which frightened Nick a bit.

"Sara! Get in here, Russell is using sign language and I don't know what he's saying!"

She came running in.

"C-A-N Y-O-U R-E-P-E-A-T W-H-A-T Y-O-U J-U-S-T S-A-I-D?" Sara asked in sign language.

"I C-A-N-N-O-T H-E-A-R A-N-Y-M-O-R-E; I A-M D-E-A-F," Russell responded.

"Nick, Russell can't hear any of us talk anymore," Sara said disappointedly.

"Why? What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"Because he's deaf."

While Sara called for a medic, Nick freed Brass.

**Chapter 12- Bad news:**

**Chapter Rating: K+ (mild mature situations)**

Nick, Sara, Greg, Morgan, and Hodges were all waiting outside the ER for news on Brass and Russell. A doctor walked out, a sad look on her face.

"Family of D.B. Russell and Jim Brass?" she asked.

"We are the next closest family they have right now. Brass's daughter is here recovering and his wife is gone. Russell's wife and children are out of town until Saturday. CSI Nick Stokes, Las Vegas Crime Lab," Nick said.

"I'm Dr. Swanson. Nice to meet you all. I'm so sorry to tell you this, but Russell is deaf," she said.

"Wait, what? You're saying that he can't hear any of us?" Greg asked, a bit angry.

"He can understand sign language, which he will have to use or read for the rest of his life. But it was unfortunately not the result of an infection. His deafness was the result of a stapedectomy."

"What is a stapedectomy?" Morgan asked.

"It's a surgery done to help improve hearing. It is done under general anesthesia. Unfortunately, the way this stapedectomy was done was a very painful process. Someone took a knife and removed the little bone in his ears that helps him hear. Everyone has that tiny bone in both ears. He would have been wide awake the whole time and feeling everything. This looks like it was very recently done, probably not more than two hours ago."

"I am going to murder both of them," Nick muttered under his breath.

"I do have some good news. Unfortunately, his leg was broken as a result of a crowbar being brought down on it with a large amount of force. However, the person who put the cast on his leg knows how to apply one correctly, so the bone will heal properly. He should be back on his geet and re-learning how to walk on that one leg within the next four to five weeks. The stab wound on his shoulder should heal with pain medication in about three weeks. His abdomen was starting to suffer first-degree burns from a taser shocking him, but we were able to get him on burn and pain medicine. That area should heal within eight weeks."

"What about Brass?" Sara asked.

"His only injury was a stapedectomy to his left ear. Same process as Russell, he was wide awake and in a lot of pain once he became deaf in that ear. He should be discharged from here in about four days. I'm so sorry to have to tell you about the stapedectomy." Dr. Swanson left the room to check on her patients.

"Dr. Swanson, before you go, will Brass need to learn sign language?" Nick asked.

"I recommend that he should learn some, but if he doesn't want to, that's fine."

Once the doctor left, Nick swore under his breath.

"I am going to murder both those creeps onsight. But first, I'm going to remove the bone from their ears and make each of them deaf in one. They will get to experience what Russell and Brass went through," Nick said.

"Why would they do such a thing?" Morgan asked. "It's just wrong that they did an operation without using anesthesia."

"I don't know, that's the reason why I'm going to strangle both of them in prison."

**Chapter 13- Trial:**

**Chapter Rating- T (mature themes)**

Four weeks later, Russell was released from the hospital in time for Ronald and Arnold's trial. The hard cast had been taken off and he was learning how to walk using crutches. His shoulder was almost completely healed. The cut on his arm was almost gone; it was turning into a very small scar. Brass was getting used to the fact that he only could hear out of one ear.

The day of the trial finally arrived. Sara would be up on the podium near the judge, translating what he was saying into sign language for Russell.

"Ms. Sidle, why are you standing up on the podium?" the judge asked.

"Russell is deaf, and I'm his translator," she replied.

"Alright, the trial of Arnold Rodriguez and Ronald Williams is now in session," the judge said. "M-R. R-U-S-S-E-L-L, C-A-N Y-O-U C-O-M-E U-P T-O T-H-E P-O-D-I-U-M?" Sara asked Russell, repeating what the judge said.

Russell headed up to the podium and after saying he would say nothing but the truth, he began answering questions, with Sara translating the whole time.

"Mr. Russell, can you tell us what happened on your first day of being abducted?" the judge asked.

"Certainly. I arrived at work like normal, and was walking towards the front door when I was struck in the lower back with a taser. Just before I fell onto the ground, Arnold put a cloth over my mouth and forced me to breathe in chloroform. I was unconscious until I woke up, bound and gagged with rope. He called and taunted my team. He then knocked me out with a sedative and I woke up tied to a table. He tortured me to death almost, breaking my leg with a crowbar, stabbing and cutting my left arm and shoulder with a steak knife. He shocked me in the abdomen with a taser until I passed out."

"Mr. Rodriguez, is it true that you tortured Mr. Russell with those items?"

"Yes, I tortured him. But he killed my brother and I wanted him to feel the pain I felt."

"Mr. Russell, what did Mr. Williams do to you?"

"He hit me over and over with his belt buckle. He also performed a stapedectomy on both my ears, leaving me deaf. He removed the bone that helps all of us hear."

"Mr. Williams, is it true that you performed that operation?"

"Yes."

"Do you have anything else to say, Mr. Russell?"

"No."

"Thank you very much. You may take your seat and Mr. Brass, please come up to the podium."

After Brass repeated that he would speak nothing but the truth, he told his story.

"Mr. Brass, can you explain what these two men did to you?"

"Arnold knocked me out with a metal object as I was handing over a million dollars' ransom to Ronald. I woke up bound to a chair. Arnold choked both of us a bit and performed the same ear operation on me, leaving me deaf in my left ear. Both men murdered 21 people, and one of the victims was Ronald's wife Samantha."

The judge looked a bit saddened after hearing Brass's story. Without another word, the judge closed the trial and said that both Ronald and Arnold would be sentenced to death for three counts of kidnapping, and twenty-one counts of murder.

**Chapter 14- Horrible memories: **

**Chapter Rating- M (violence/blood/mild-moderate graphic torture)**

**Please note that this chapter may be a little disturbing. Read at your own risk. You have been warned. If you don't like torture, do not read this chapter. **

Six weeks had passed since the trial, and Russell was back on his feet and working crime scenes. Unfortunately, Brass had resigned two weeks before, due to PTSD and a new job offer in Washington D.C. A letter had been left on his desk from Special Agent Avery Ryan of the FBI. They were offering him a job as an agent to replace someone who had recently died in the line of duty. Brass had decided to take the job because after the trial ended, he began having recurring nightmares of his kidnapping. He needed to get rid of the ghosts of his past and move on. Brass had left the team his phone number, and he said that once he got settled into D.C, he would be looking forward to talking with them all.

As Russell headed into the break room, he suddenly had a very disturbing flashback.

_He had been tied up on the bed, watching the two men enter the room, carrying a knife and a pair of pliers. Arnold turned Brass's head to the right side, and secured him, while Ronald picked up the knife and prepared to make his first cut._

"_What you're about to experience is a procedure known as a stapedectomy. It's a surgery done to help improve someone's hearing. But unfortunately, in this case, it will be done to decrease your hearing. There is a small bone at the base of your ear that is responsible for your ability to hear a higher number of decibels. If we remove that bone, then you can only hear about 10-15 decibels, which is just another way of saying that you're deaf," Arnold sneered as the knife was moved closer and closer to Brass. _

_Ronald made his first cut, and the homicide detective screamed in pain._

"_Did I forget to mention that this procedure can be quite painful if not done under general anesthesia?"_

_Brass felt the knife cutting deeper into his head as it finally reached its destination. _

"_Hand me the pliers, Arnold," Ronald said. _

_Arnold handed the pliers over to his friend. Brass felt like passing out from the pain._

_Ronald pushed the pliers in very hard, causing Brass to scream even louder. The man found what he was looking for, and began to pull something out. In less than a second, Ronald yanked his "prize" out as hard as he could, and Russell heard Brass scream a lot louder than normal. Brass realized that he couldn't hear out of his left ear anymore, and suddenly saw something wrapped up in a bloody paper towel. _

"_How'd you like that, Mr. Detective? I bet you hated it very much, since you just lost half of your hearing. But, that's your punishment for having my brother killed. If you weren't at the grocery store that day, then maybe my brother would still be alive. But because you were there, Russell had to kill him. All that pain that you just felt when Ronald removed that bone was the amount of pain I suffered after learning about my brother's death. Now that you have half your hearing gone, let's see how Russell enjoys it."_

_Both men completed the same procedure on both of Russell's ears, and he ended up passing out halfway through the procedure. _

Russell shook his head, trying to get rid off the horrible memory. He poured himself some coffee and was about to call everyone into the conference room to receive their assignments, when he heard Morgan shout excitedly.

"Yes, Greg! Yes!" she said.

Russell entered another one of the conference rooms and saw Morgan giving Greg a hug.

"Why do you sound so excited, Morgan?" he asked. "I've seen you excited like this in a really long time."

"Greg just proposed to me and I said yes!" she said, showing her Supervisor the ring.

"I didn't even know that you two were dating! Congratulations, both of you!"

"Thank you, Russell," Greg and Morgan both said.

He wrapped his arm around his fianceé's waist.

Russell gave his team their case assignments, and smiled once they left the room. He felt good to be back in his Lab, surrounded by his friends, who were more like his family.

He was home.


End file.
